The Nebraska High School Basketball All-State Project - Saluting 1978

1978 must have been a year when all the excellent teams beat up on each other because only 4 undefeated teams ended up in that year's State Tournament and 3 of those were in Class D. Randolph entered the Big Dance in Class C with a 21-0 slate. Filley (24-0), Hildreth (20-0), and Potter (20-0) were perfect entering the tournament in "D"

Here are the class by class State Tournaments at a glance.

*In Class D, many sports scribes were tabbing Filley as the team to win it all. 24 wins without a loss and an average margin of victory at 26 points each outing had much to influence this line of thinking, I'm sure. Filley had no stars and a solid middle, but I thought Hildreth was by far the best team in the field with Crale Bauer. Frail Crale was unreal and his teammates Todd Jelden and Alan Bunger added great support.

In the first round, the Greyhounds turned back a stubborn and talented Lexington St. Anns team 75-62. Hildreth needed all 43 of Bauer's points in that 7:00 game. Sharpshooting Brad Williams and Nordeen led St. Edward to a 52-40 win over previously undefeated Potter. Polk had 4 players in double figures to send Venango back to the Colorado border with their 1st loss of the season, and Filley doubled the score on 9-10 Cinderella Spalding High, 68-34.

St. Ed was no match for Hildreth in the semis, as the Greyhounds blitzed the Beavers 79-56. As I expected, Polk ended Filly's undefeated season with a thud, 67-33.

Hildreth knocked off Polk in the finals, but not without a battle. Crale Bauer led his team in the 70-63 win, as they won their 1st State Championship since the Greyhounds knocked off Chappell 59-43 in 1951 to nab the Class C crown.

Hildreth placed THREE players on the "D" All-Tournament squad, landing Bauer, Jelden, and Bunger. Polk had the other two, placing Curtis Burney and Mark Clyme. Bauer scored a mind boggling 101 points in three games in that 1978 state tournament and ended up scoring 207 career State Tournament points.

*The Class C field was once again led by the mighty Howells, who had grabbed 3 of the last 5 Class C titles, including 1977. Despite that track record, the Journal-Star for one paper, tabbed Lyons to win it all. How dare they go against Howells. Centennial entered the big show as Class C's #1 team.

Randolph rallied late in the 3rd quarter to beat Wood River 52-42 in the 1st round. Sandy Creek, with FOUR sophomore starters, pushed Howells to the limit before the Bobcats finally prevailed 54-52. Dale Engel's game leading 22 points nearly led the Cougs to the upset win. Hemingford notched a feather in Western Nebraska's hat by trimming Centennial 62-58, and Lyons 6-4 junior ace Greg Hayes paced his team to a 61-50 win over Elkhorn Mt. Michael and their outstanding Steve DiGiacinto, who finished with 23 game high points.

I'll bet Howells couldn't wait to play Hemingford in those semi finals and it showed as the 'Cats frolicked to a 61-36 victory. Lyons ended Randolph's undefeated string at 22 with a 69-45 win over the Cardinals.

Howells beat Lyons in a 56-52 thriller to win its 2nd consecutive Class C championship and 4th in the past 6 seasons. But don't feel too bad for the Lyons. The Lions were building a terrific team and were set up for a serious run in 1979.

The All-Tournament Team included Dale Blum and Kevin Janata from Howells, Sandy Creek's Dale Engel, Jeff Hayes from Lyons, and Wood River's Mick Wissing. ALL but Janata were Juniors. Blum easily took tournament scoring honors in Class C with 62 points in three outings.

*Man, did McCook look strong in Class B. The Bison came into the state tournament with a 22-1 record and were tabbed as the team to beat, but tournament veteran Fairbury couldn't be overlooked, nor could Aurora.

In the opening round #1 McCook sprinted to a 28-13 first quarter advantage, and never looked in the rear view, posting a high scoring 88-71 win over 14-4 Broken Bow. Bow actually outscored the Bison in the 2nd half (44-40) and were paced by Les Adelung's 20 points. 6-4 all-state forward Craig Wehrle led Madison to a 60-52 win over Gering with his 24 counters, Fairbury held on by the skin of its teeth to beat Arlington 66-64, and Aurora, led by Penner's 23 points, outlasted Plattsmouth and its 6-10 junior stud Dave MacFarlane, 75-70. Big Dave took game honors with 25.

In the semi finals, Madison's Craig Wehrle was once again too much to handle as his Dragons knocked off Aurora 67-62. Remember, Madison was Class C just the year before. Fairbury won the other semis game with a 58-50 win over top seeded McCook.

In the 1978 Class B finals, Fairbury trimmed Madison 52-45 to take all the marbles. The trio of Mike Falloon, Tom Oswald, and lad named Beetley led the Jeffs and ended up holding down 3 of the top 5 scoring totals in the tournament.

The "B" all-tournament squad consisted of Oswald of Fairbury, Dwayne Marvin of McCook, Dave MacFarlane-Plattsmouth, Wehrle of Madison, and Arlington's Randy Dunklau, who scored 23 in the Eagles 1st round loss to Fairbury. Oswald, MacFarlane, and Marvin were all Juniors.

*Class A featured a Lincoln East team that was picked as the favorite, although a 15-3 Norfolk squad swept all 4 Capitol City schools during the '78 season. East was just simply loaded with players like Paul Baker, Tom Vergith, Jay Rodenburg, and Sailors. Both Sailors and Baker could crash the boards with reckless abandon to boot.

In 1st round action, East let Millard 6-5 star Steve Olson get his 22 points, but shut down the remainder of the Indians in a 62-42 win. North Platte's Chuck Anderson and Zane Smith each dropped in 22, but it wasn't enough to stop Omaha Central from besting the Bulldogs, 72-66. The Eagles 6-4 ace Michael Johnson led the way for Central with 22. Lincoln SE turned the tables on Norfolk with a 65-50 win after spotting the Panthers an 18-11 1st quarter lead. Omaha Tech rushed out to a 24-14 1st stanza lead and went on to down Omaha Northwest 70-60 to close out the opening day in Class A.

Lincoln East and Omaha Central put on quite a show in the semis before the Spartans held on for a 74-72 thriller. In the other semi final match-up, Lincoln SE defeated Omaha Tech, 64-57 to set up the all Lincoln finale.

The Class A final wasn't nearly as close as the 2 semi finals contests as Lincoln East swept through the Southeast Knights 66-49 to win its 1st Class A title since 1971. Too much firepower by East, who had 4 of the top 6 scorers in the tournament.

That 1978 Class A all-tournament team was: Tom Vergith-Lincoln East, Michael Johnson-O. Central, Paul Baker-Lincoln East, Chuck Anderson of North Platte and Lincoln SE junior, 6-2 Mark McManamann. Baker and Anderson were also juniors.

The All-Class All- Tourney team was the same except for Hildreth's Crale Bauer replacing Anderson of North Platte.

Johnson of Omaha Central edged out Lincoln East's Baker for tournament scoring honors 55 to 54, although Johnson's 2 game average of 27.5 ppg was tops.

*1978 Class D All-State Team*

Crale Bauer-Hildreth - 6-5, Senior* (27.6 ppg/10 rpg)

Eugene Busboom-Adams - 6-3, Senior* (21.0 ppg/13.0 rpg)

Bill Anderson-Hordville- 6-0, Senior (29.5 ppg/5 rpg)

Mark Clymer-Polk - 5-9, Senior (17.5 ppg/10 rpg)

Todd Jelden-Hildreth - 6-3, Senior (22.0 ppg/11 rpg)

2nd Team:

Mike Bliven-Lexington St. Ann - 5-11, Senior (16.0 ppg/11 rpg)

Tom Schwarz-Nelson - 6-7, Senior (16.0 ppg/12 rpg)

Tom Hansen-Ruskin- 6-4, Senior (25.3 ppg/12 rpg)

Brad Williams-St. Edward - 6-2, Senior (21.2 ppg/8 rpg)

Alan Bunger-Hildreth - 6-4, Senior (14.0 ppg/4 rpg)

*Man, were there some pure shooters in 1978 and remember there was no 3 point shot at that time. The tall, slender left handed shooting Bauer, coached by his brother-in-law Sam Sharpe, was about as smooth as you would find back in that day, averaging nearly 28 ppg. To this day, Bauer's 207 points is still tied for 7th with Drake Beranek of Ravenna for Career points scored in a state tournament. Another player of similar build was Hordville's Bill Anderson. This kid could nail it from up to 35 feet away and DID so often as witnessed by his average. Anderson was also a 1000 yard rusher in football and almost averaged 30 points every time he stepped on the court.

2nd Team all-state Forward Tom Hansen twice erupted for 50 plus points during the season, scoring 52, then 54 points in games during the 1977/78 season. Ohiowa's Robert Schropfer also canned 52 in a game. St. Edward's Brad Williams was also a deadeye shot but did not enjoy the number of shots Anderson and Bauer had the chance to launch, but trust me, Williams could nail 'em.

*Honorable Mention: Larry Wieser-Potter, Curtis Burney and Randy Branting-Polk, Tom Dolezal and Steve Barry-Venango, Greg Eilenwood-Marquette, Brain Hahn- Hampton, Pat Messersmith and Dirk Hansen-Medicine Valley, Brian Van Diest-Sandhills, Terry Sjuts-Humphrey, Carl Kucera-Litchfield, Alan McClure-Nelson, Sterling Walker-Decatur, Greg Maas-Potter, David Uldrich-Milligan, Dan Miller-Maxwell, Al Grossnicklaus-Shelby, Brent Artz-Wilcox, Doug Schuster-Sterling, Rex Peterson-Amherst, David Meints-Filley, Kurt Baumert-Snyder, Ed Fye-Wauneta, Ron Valasek-Silver Creek, and Brian McCormick-Wheatland.

*1978 Class C All-State Team*

Galen Holy Rock-Rushville - 6-1, Senior (31.7 ppg/12 rpg)

Doug Jasa-Pender - 6-8, Senior (22.8 ppg/13 rpg)

Steve DiGiacinto-Elkhorn Mount Michael- 6-0, Junior (19.5 ppg/6 rpg)

Paul (Rapid Fire) Reinertson-Ravenna - 6-3, Senior (37.9 ppg/11 rpg)

Dale Blum-Howells- 6-2, Junior (14.0 ppg)

2nd Team:

David Janata-Howells - 6-2, Senior (12.1 ppg/5 rpg)

Jim Gustafson-Lyons - 6-1, Junior (15.0 ppg/3 rpg)

Jim Jackman-Grant - 6-6, Senior (19 ppg/17 rpg)

Barry Leif-Centennial - 6-3, Senior (18.0 ppg/11 rpg)

Tom Gdowski-Fullerton - 6-3, Senior (19 ppg/12 rpg)

*Talk about pure shooters! None better than Paul Reinertson, old Rapid Fire himself. Reinertson, who just retired as the long time Gibbon basketball coach, was about as good as I have ever seen in my days below Class A. Netting almost 38 a contest, Reinertson's 796 points in 1978 ranks 13th all-time in Points Scored in a Single Season category. If there had been a 3 point shot back then, Rapid Fire would have crushed the 1000 point barrier in '78 with ease. He also scored 59 points in a game that year. Rushville's Galen Holy Rock, the Native American sharpshooter, was also a pure shooting artist. Holy Rock burned the nets for 51 in a 1978 contest. The great thing about Reinertson and Holy Rock is that they both averaged over 10 rebounds a game to go with their lofty scoring averages.

Mount Mike's DiGiacinto was easily the star for the Knights and was only a junior......so smooth and an outstanding ball handler. And Lyons ace Gustafson was just warming up for 1979. If you thought the Lion's star was good this season, wait until you read about his senior campaign.

Fullerton's big Tom Gdowski was a football all-state selection for Fullerton and went on to enjoy a fine career as a Husker football player. Tough, tough dude. Centennial's Barry Leif rambled for 1,113 yards for the Broncos during their football season.

*Honorable Mention: Dale Blum-Howells, Marc Moravec-David City Aquinas, Jody Rhodes-Exeter, Kevin Sullivan-Centennial, Dan Billerbeck-Randolph, Tom Manning-Hemingford, Mick Wissing-Wood River, Dale Engel-Sandy Creek, Mark Chaney-David City, John Berigan-O'Neill St. Marys, Bob Bice-Malcolm, Randy Miller-Tecumseh, Todd Klabenes-Milford, Jeff Bellar-Walthill, Ray Hoffman-Stuart, Jim Going-Lyons, Randy Eikmeier-Dodge, Craig Gentzler-Plainview, Scott Schmunk-Bridgeport, Tom Heidelk-Blue Hill, Bruce Meister-Fremont Bergan, Jay Prauner-Battle Creek, Tim Brungardt-Norfolk Catholic, Randy Hagedorn-West Point C.C., Dennis Leiss-Republican Valley, Bob Dahlquist-Laurel, Alan Johnson-Stromsburg, Bob Cady-Benkleman, and Brad Bower-Chappell.

*1978 Class B All-State Team

Dave McFarlane-Plattsmouth - 6-10, Junior (22.8 ppg/14 rpg)

Mike Falloon-Fairbury - 6-7, Senior (21.7 ppg/15 rpg)

Tom Oswald-Fairbury - 5-11, Junior (14.8 ppg/5 rpg)

Craig Wehrle-Madison- 6-4, Senior (21.0 ppg/12 rpg)

Duane Marvin-McCook - 6-0, Junior (20.0 ppg/3 rpg)

2nd Team:

Les Adelung-Broken Bow - 5-11, Senior (20.2 ppg/8 rpg)

Mike Malm-Central City - 5-10, Senior (16.4 ppg/4 rpg)

Scott Meredith-York - 6-5, Senior (20.0 ppg/15 rpg)

Fred Becker-McCook - 6-2, Senior (14.3 ppg/7 rpg)

Leon Gertsch-Aurora - 6-5, Senior (16.6 ppg/11 rpg)

*Madison's Wehrle was a 2nd team selection in Class C in 1977 and the jump to Class B didn't bother him and his teammates a bit. The 1st team featured 3 juniors, which was rare. Plattsmouth's McFarlane was unstoppable if he gained the ball anywhere close to the basket. Oswald was just a pure basketball player, and McCook's Marvin stepped in as a QB for the Bison during the fall and led them to a 4th place final rating in Class B. Marvin was also a whiz on the track.

*Honorable Mention: Max Milam-Falls City, Rusty Hansen and Todd Bacher-Arlington, John Palm-Raymond Central, Kurt Frahm-Gretna, Mike Haney-McCook, Jerry Schmidt-Madison, Rod Kramer and Greg Rettele-Norris, Pat Wiese-Lincoln Pius X, Charles Nolte-Plattsmouth, Matt Tinley-Ogallala, Brad Tittle-Alliance, Phil Haberman-Imperial, Mitch Carter-Aurora, Brad Extrom-Minden, Troy Witherwax-Ord, Dave Jablonski-Loup City, Fletcher Bornschlegl-Gering, and Jeff Alexander-Gordon.

*1978 Class A All-State Team

Daryl Stovall- Bellevue West - 6-4, Senior (24.0 ppg/11 rpg)

Bryan Hollingsworth-Omaha Northwest - 6-1, Senior (15.0 ppg/9 rpg)

Tom Vergith-Lincoln East - 6-0, Senior (13.4 ppg/5 rpg)

Tom Olson-Millard - 6-5, Senior (18.9 ppg/10 rpg)

Michael Johnson-Omaha Central - 6-4, Senior (24.7 ppg/12 rpg)

2nd Team:

Jay Rodenburg-Lincoln East - 5-11, Senior (13.1 ppg/3 rpg)

Chuck Anderson-North Platte - 6-3, Junior (20.6 ppg/9 rpg)

Mark Kruse-Norfolk - 6-5, Senior (17.5 ppg/12 rpg)

Mark Hiatt-Fremont - 6-3, Senior (19.2 ppg/9 rpg)

Vernon Fisher-Lincoln Southeast - 6-3, Senior (11.1 ppg/10 rpg)

Bell West's Stovall and Michael Johnson of Central were the toast of the Metro Conference without a doubt. Chuck Anderson of North Platte was the Best of the West for sure. I saw the junior deadeye play a couple of times and what a shot he was. Hiatt of Fremont and Kruse of Norfolk hooked up in a 5 overtime dandy during this season and I wish I would have been in attendance for that baby. The Panthers and Tigers are bitter rivals anyway and seemed to be even more so back in those days.

Daryll Stovall went on to be a killer basketball star for Creighton University from 1978-1981. #40 scored 1,115 points during that illustrious career, pulled down 360 boards, dished out 173 assists, and had 116 steals for the Jays. Stovall played both guard and forward for Creighton and was often called on to guard the opposition's best player. The Bellevue West star was also an all-state baseball player in both his junior and senior seasons for the Thunderbirds.

Stovall was drafted by the NBA's San Diego Clippers in the 1981 draft, but was also drafted by the Chicago White Sox of Major League baseball. Daryll opted for baseball but struggled as a minor league player in the White Sox organization and gave it up after one season. He ended up back at Creighton as a grad assistant on the bench for Coach Willis Reed.

Daryll Stovall is the only other Creighton player in history to be drafted by both MLB and the NBA. And the other......a man named Bob Gibson.

*Honorable Mention: Todd Sohl and Scott Dieter-Norfolk, Steve Toner-Grand Island, Nate Woods-Lincoln High, Tim Ingram-Omaha Westside, Jeff Smith-Lincoln SE, Victor Jordan and David Channel-Omaha Tech, Ken Kimble-Omaha Bryan, Bryan Hunter-Creighton Prep, Dana Childs-Lincoln East, Jim Reinders-Omaha Roncalli, Jim St. Clair-Papillion, Gilbert Killian-Kearney, and Rod O'Dowd-Omaha NW.

*1978 Super-State 1st Team

Daryl Stovall- Bellevue West - 6-4, Senior (24.0 ppg/11 rpg)

Crale Bauer-Hildreth - 6-5, Senior (27.6 ppg/10 rpg)

Tom Vergith-Lincoln East - 6-0, Senior (13.4 ppg5 rpg)

Tom Olson-Millard - 6-5, Senior (18.9 ppg/10 rpg)

Michael Johnson-Omaha Central - 6-4, Senior (24.7/12 rpg ppg)

*1978 Super-State 2nd Team

Bryan Hollingsworth-Omaha Northwest - 6-1, Senior (15.0 ppg/9 rpg)

Vern Fisher-Lincoln Southeast - 6-3, Senior (11.9 ppg/10 rpg)

Mark Kruse-Norfolk - 6-5, Senior (18.6 ppg/12 rpg)

Jay Rodenburg-Lincoln East - 5-11, Senior (12.4/3 rpg)

Mark Hiatt-Fremont - 6-3, Senior (19.0/9 rpg)